Movie Review: PATRICK: EVIL AWAKENS

I have to admit, when a friend asked me to review this movie, the first thing I thought was, “Hmmm, I haven’t heard of it, does that mean its extra bloody and gutsy?” This movie proved that instinct wrong-this time anyway. Although Patrick: Evil Awakens does have its moments (flying shards of glass, a hand burning on a sandwich grill) I wouldn’t call it a gory movie.

In fact, the thought occurred to me that has often popped into my head lately while watching what we call horror movies. The genres of science fiction and horror have fused together so well during our generation that it is really hard to separate the two. They have, in my opinion, become one element. I think this movie is another good example of that.

The basic plot of the movie is that a young nurse named Kathy (played by Sharni Vinson) comes to The Roget Clinic, a private clinic that specializes in treating coma patients, in the hopes of escaping a crumbling romance. What she finds instead is much worse than what she was running from. We are quickly introduced to one particular patient, Patrick, (played by Jackson Gallagher—and who looks a lot like a young Ashton Kutcher) who Kathy forms an attachment to and secretly the two begin communicating with one another. The title succeeds in teasing its audience, after all, it’s called Patrick:Evil Awakens, so we naturally wonder at certain points in the movie, is now going to be that moment when Patrick will blink and sit up or even move his open eyes???

Dr. Roget, the owner of the clinic, is played by Charles Dance who you may recognize as none other than Tywin Lannister HBO’s Game of Thrones. Although Mr. Dance doesn’t have a huge amount of lines in the film, as usual, he brings across a presence that demands that the audience pay attention to every word he says. I knew I recognized him when I heard his voice and saw his face, then I looked on Wikipedia, realized who he was, and thought “Oh, that’s why I like him so much.” Another face I recognized on the screen was the actress who played Roget’s daughter, Nurse Cassidy. The role is played by actress Rachel Griffiths who you may recognize as Rhonda from the Australian movie Muriel’s Wedding (wonderful chick flick with grit if you’re into that kind of thing) and the TV series that ran on ABC, Brothers and Sisters. She played Sarah Walker.

Besides the actors included on the project, another thing I liked about this movie was the background music. Too often, movies are associated with modern-easy to pocket money from-soundtracks, but this movie goes back to some old tried and true roots. The background music is a combination of classical type music with scary high and low pitches mixed in. I think that the natural ebbs and flows in the music can’t help but persuade the body to tense up a little bit. Honestly, it’s a scare tactic that I wish more horror movies would go back to. While soundtracks can make money in the moment, they don’t really contribute to whether or not a horror movie becomes a cult classic.

So will you like this movie? Well, that depends. If you’re the type of person who likes watching unknown movies that might pop up on the Syfy network, then yes, I think you will like this movie. However, if you’re the type of person that demands action packed horror with gut twisting special effects, then maybe not so much. I liked this movie, because honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. It surprised me pleasantly. Does that mean that I would compare it to Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street? No, not at all. However, if it was included in a movie marathon on Syfy, then yeah I would watch it. I think it’s a good movie if you’re looking to dip your feet into the pool of the horror genre, but you’re not ready to jump in just yet.

If you’re curious to see a little bit more about the film, I’ve included a trailer for your viewing pleasure. The film is also available to stream on Netflix. Enjoy!